In the news...

Headlines August 26, 2013

News:

Army Staff Sgt. Ty M. Carter, the latest recipient of the nation’s highest military honor, hopes to use the award to help others suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, which has afflicted him since a 2009 battle in eastern Afghanistan that cost eight fellow soldiers their lives. President Obama awarded Carter the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony Aug. 26, making the 33-year-old from Washington State the fifth living recipient of the decoration for heroic actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Business:

The U.S. unit of British aerospace and defense manufacturer Meggitt Plc has agreed to pay up to $25 million to resolve hundreds of possible export control violations the company uncovered in a review of operations dating back to the mid-1990s, the U.S. State Department said Aug. 23.

Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp, has reached an agreement in principle with the Pentagon on a contract to build 39 engines for a sixth batch of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, three sources familiar with the deal said Aug. 26. The agreement – which Pratt had expected to reach over a month ago – is valued at more than $1 billion, said the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Northrop Grumman is working through internal testing to upgrade sensors for its embattled Global Hawk reconnaissance aircraft, trying to keep a variant of it alive while the Air Force continues to target it for cuts. The Air Force says its manned Cold War-era U-2s can do the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance job with a better sensor payload than the new Block 30 variant of the massive, high-altitude unmanned Global Hawks.

Imagine being able to conduct surveillance, deliver supplies and even extract troops from a riverine war zone without sending a boat operator into danger. Swiftships Shipbuilders LLC tested a prototype riverine vessel earlier this year that eventually will be fully autonomous. The goal of the company’s Project Anaconda is to have the autonomous watercraft ready in about 18 months, said Eric Geibel, the director of special programs for Swiftships.

BBA Aviation Plc, the world’s largest provider of bases for business jets, and aircraft leasing company Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Ltd. Said they are discussing a combination of parts of their business.

Defense:

Defense lawyers asked the judge in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal on Aug. 23 to halt pretrial hearings in the 9/11 case until technicians fix a slew of computer and email problems they said had made it nearly impossible to do their work.

International:

Royal Navy vessels are being readied to take part in a possible series of cruise missile strikes, alongside the United States, as military commanders finalize a list of potential targets. Government sources said talks between the Prime Minister and international leaders, including Barack Obama, would continue, but that any military action that was agreed could begin within the next week.

Viewpoint:

The story of 25-year-old Army Pvt. Bradley Manning, now convicted of espionage, demoted and sentenced to 35 years at Fort Leavenworth prison, has taken a bizarre turn. In the same week, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a bearded jihadist wearing an Army uniform, sat in a Texas courtroom hearing evidence of his mass murder. Both cases raise similar questions: Did political sensitivities increase dangers that could have been avoided?

In 2012, the Department of Defense received $118 billion for weapons procurement. Next Next year, it will receive less than $100 billion — a lot less if the deficit-cutting mechanism called sequestration again kicks in. Tony Capaccio of Bloomberg Bloomberg News revealed last week that sequestration could drag down budget authority for weapons procurement by another 16 percent from the administration’s already reduced 2014 request, to a figure somewhere in the mid-eighty billions.

Local military discounts

News: Carter: Military leaders could arm more troops at home – Following the recent fatal shooting of four Marines and a sailor in Tennessee, Defense Secretary Ash Carter is ordering the military services to consider new policies that would enhance security for troops at home, including potentially arming more personnel. Business: DOD weighs supplier base,...

U.S. delivering eight newer F-16 warplanes to Egypt The United States Embassy in Cairo says the U.S. is delivering eight newer F-16 warplanes to Egypt as part of an ongoing military support package. It says in a July 30 statement that the aircraft, of the current Block 52 production variant, will be flown in from...

Lockheed Martin photograph A protective panel for Orion’s service module is jettisoned during testing at Lockheed Martin’s Sunnyvale, California facility. This test series evaluated design changes to the spacecraft’s fair...

Northrop Grumman has awarded the first Australian supplier contract for the U.S. Navy’s MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system initial production lot to Ferra Engineering. Brisbane-based Ferra Engineering will manufacture mechanical sub-assemblies for the first four Triton air vehicles including structural components. “At Northrop Grumman it’s very important to not only develop...

Boeing photograph The CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter commonly known as the “Phrog,” is set to retire and to be flown one last time by Reserve Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 774 on Aug. 1. The CH-46 Sea Knight is a med...

Under the terms of its latest contract, Insitu will build six RQ-21A Blackjack systems for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The $78-million Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems Lot IV Low Rate Initial Production contract is the latest event in the program’s progression toward the Initial Operational Test and Evaluation phase. “This award will...

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